Lisa joined FT Alphaville in September 2011 after a tour of duty through the guts of the financial industry, having worked as an analyst at a bank and for a financial data company. She's now the Head of New Projects for FT.com and fortnightly columnist for the paper.

On Thursday, the US House and Senate approved legislation to fund a handful of government departments to the tune of $128bn while other departments will continue to be funded at 2011 levels in the next year, the WSJ reports. The current funding for government operations is due to expire on Friday at midnight. President Obama is expected to sign the legislation by way of direct machine imprint of his signature as he’s currently in Indonesia attending a summit. The bill gives $205m of funding to the CFTC, $100m less than Obama had sought for the agency that is writing rules to implement Dodd-Frank. The agency had been asking for additional funds in order to be able to complete the massive regulatory task it is faced with.

Lisa joined FT Alphaville in September 2011 after a tour of duty through the guts of the financial industry, having worked as an analyst at a bank and for a financial data company. She's now the Head of New Projects for FT.com and fortnightly columnist for the paper.

Late on Monday, the US Senate passed a measure to avoid a shut down of certain federal operations, reports the FT. The measure was passed by a substantial majority of 79 to 12. The funding contained in the deal includes $2.65bn for disaster relief but contains no offsetting spending cuts – something the Republicans had been demanding. The deadline for a new funding law to be enacted is Friday night, after which the US government will have to shut down all non-essential services. The measure that the Senate has passed now puts pressure on the House of Representatives to pass similar legislation.

Kate is FT AV’s Asia Correspondent. She joined FT Alphaville in mid-2011 after carrying out various roles in the FT’s London office since 2005: interactive editor, companies reporter, and founding editor of the FT’s Energy Source blog.

The US government has been put at risk of a possible October 1 shutdown because of a partisan fight on Capitol Hill over disaster relief for victims of hurricane Irene and Democratic opposition to proposed cuts to subsidies for fuel-efficient cars, the FT reports. Although Republican leaders in the House of Representatives are seeking to appear more conciliatory following this summer’s tough debate over an increase in the debt ceiling, lawmakers voted 230-195 against a bill to keep the US government funded temporarily. The defeated proposal included $3.65bn in assistance to areas hit by the recent hurricane and other natural disasters. Eric Cantor, the number 2 House Republican, whose own district was affected by hurricane Irene, came under scrutiny after he suggested that any disaster relief funding would have to be offset by cuts to other government programmes, although he later backed off from that assertion. Later in the evening, a panel approved a measure that would allow the House to quickly reschedule another vote. But it was not clear how the substance of the bill might be changed, Reuters reports.

Cardiff writes mostly about US macroeconomic issues, with daily excursions into other topics about which he claim no expertise. Before Alphaville, Cardiff spent a little more than two years as a reporter at Dow Jones Financial News covering investment banking, asset management, and private equity. Along the way he has written freelance pieces on a variety of other topics from behavioural psychology to Muay Thai, the latter also being a personal interest that involves frequently getting kicked in the shins (and torso, and head).

Cardiff writes mostly about US macroeconomic issues, with daily excursions into other topics about which he claim no expertise. Before Alphaville, Cardiff spent a little more than two years as a reporter at Dow Jones Financial News covering investment banking, asset management, and private equity. Along the way he has written freelance pieces on a variety of other topics from behavioural psychology to Muay Thai, the latter also being a personal interest that involves frequently getting kicked in the shins (and torso, and head).

The US began preparations to stand down nearly 1m workers and suspend services ranging from processing tax returns to national parks as a government shutdown loomed over stalled budget talks, reports the FT. Republicans and Democrats in Congress remained deadlocked over a budget agreement for the final six months of the current fiscal year, ahead of a deadline on Friday when funding for the government runs out.

Cardiff writes mostly about US macroeconomic issues, with daily excursions into other topics about which he claim no expertise. Before Alphaville, Cardiff spent a little more than two years as a reporter at Dow Jones Financial News covering investment banking, asset management, and private equity. Along the way he has written freelance pieces on a variety of other topics from behavioural psychology to Muay Thai, the latter also being a personal interest that involves frequently getting kicked in the shins (and torso, and head).